Mini crash in cycle

[fishRstressful]

Most bacterias are safe to use with fish. I use microbacter7 and start with fish and have never had an issue. I do find that if you can not dose prime your cycle will go faster. I know prime says it will not effect the biofilter but it binds ammonia and nitrite so I think it renders it useless to the bacteria. Now if you have chlorine in your tap water you will need to figure out the best option for you. I stopped changing water until the cycle was complete. While dosing mb7 never saw really toxic levels so no need. I did notice with using prime a "stalled" or extended cycle. I did and have had a few buckets of aged water on stand by during these times. Chlorine will off gas in about 24hrs. Chloramines will not off gas. Does you city use chloramines?

well usually i’ll dose with prime. then add ammonia. test the water. then add bacteria.

So I went ahead and did the 50% water change just so the fish can breathe easier. Then dosed with prime. I’m going to keep checking the water and when the ammonia gets to .25ppm, i’ll add the bacteria. and let it be. I got a large enough bottle that even if I need to do a water change, I can still add more.

 

[twentyleagues]

Mb7 has a dosing regimen for 7 days then weekly for 4 weeks unless more fish are added. Once I started seeing normal levels of nitrate I started water changes like normal. I ran my water through a 3 stage carbon block filter to remove chlorine. I think prime has its uses I just think during start up it should only be used sparingly if at all, if it can be avoided.